Encounter
by Lyannia
Summary: An unexpected encounter between Syaoran and Sakura...in a hotel! SS, One-shot.


Syaoran Li was beyond frustrated. Eriol Hiragizawa, that pale-faced git, had left him waiting in the middle of an unknown street in Shibuya, for…let's see…at the very least four hours. Syaoran took another glance at his watch. Thirty minutes to midnight. His phone battery had died a while ago and there was no way in hell he could remember that long string of digits that made up Eriol Hiragizawa's phone number. He looked up to the sky and sighed again.

He arrived in Tokyo yesterday, in the midst of autumn. He would have flown somewhere else, if not for Eriol's invitation, since he did not know how to speak the language.

"And then he goes off and dumps me here in the middle of Shibuya. I wonder if I can even find a hotel with english or mandarin speaking staff…" Syaoran wondered aloud as he loitered down the crowded streets. There was an amazing night life in Shibuya. Everywhere Syaoran turned he could see couples holding hands and laughing to each other, smiling at some unknown joke. Syaoran pulled his jacket tighter around him. Well, it is tough being single.

The words of his mother suddenly echoed in his mind. "Syaoran, stop being uselessly stubborn."

Syaoran sighed for the umpteenth time that day. He took a deep breath in, hoping the cool air would clear his thoughts. It was the first time he came to Japan alone. In the spur of the moment, he had grabbed a few clothes, his passport, phone and wallet from home and left on a cab, to the airport.

There wasn't anywhere in the world that he really wanted to go, but he knew he needed to get away. Granted, he had the money to travel and splurge on all exotic luxuries, but somehow he never felt spending enormous amounts on money on such holidays satisfying. He had always wanted somewhere he could be himself, somewhere comfortable, no matter how small that physical space could be. While flitting through the nearest flights from Shanghai to anywhere in the world, he chanced upon a flight to Tokyo. It was pure chance that he possibly remembered Eriol's invitation text to his engagement party, all bachelors of course, and he had happily proceeded to book a ticket to Tokyo.

"Worse decision in my adult life", Syaoran thought to himself. A loud growl emitted from his stomach and stopped him in the middle of his thoughts. A couple walking past him gave him strange looks, the woman stifling a chuckle. Syaoran felt himself go red in embarrassment. He could save the thinking for later. First secure lodgings, then food.

* * *

Sakura Kinomoto could feel herself going yellow…no, red. More accurately, she felt drunk.

"Come on Sakura! That's all you can do?" A loud voice sounded from her right. That sounded like Mashimoto senpai? Or was it Morita senpai? A voice in her head told her she should stop, but she pressed the thought down. The cheerleading team just won the semi-finals! She should join in the revelry and have some fun too. She stretched her arm out and immediately there were cheers and whistles as someone, oh it's Rika-chan, poured more alcohol into her glass.

Sakura gulped down the alcohol immediately, tipping the glass after to show that she finished every last bit of it.

Unbeknownst to her, someone was observing her from the corner, a smile creeping to the corners of his mouth, as he slowly sipped on a glass of beer.

* * *

Syaoran knew he turned down the wrong lane when he spotted the increasing number of girls in revealing clothes standing next to bright neon posters. Not far away from him, he saw two men, one of them a Caucasian, led by one girl, walk into one of the shops. He gave them a quick glance and did not want to think too much into it. He had walked for about half an hour without seeing a single hotel. He silently decided that if he could not find a place within the next hour, he would just walk back to the street where Eriol left him and sleep on a bench.

Syaoran took a chance and turned left at the junction, only to find more posters plastered with many male and female faces. He saw the word 'hosts' on many of them. Some girls approached him and tried talking to him. Unfortunately, or fortunately, he could not for the life of him understand what they were saying when he walked past them, but he could read their smiles and expressions. Syaoran shuddered and quickened his steps, careful not to let his gaze stray from the dark cement road onto any of the passerby. Suddenly, a thought came into his mind which stopped him in his tracks. Wait. Surely, they would know where the nearest hotel would be right?

* * *

"Thank you…Morita…senpai." Sakura managed to croak out after recovering from a stumble.

"It's no problem Sakura. Here." A voice emanated from above her head, and she felt the hand on her shoulder move to her waist, steadying her, but at the same time removing any distance between her body and his. Sakura instinctively shifted and tried to squiggle away from the tight embrace, but her efforts did not come to much success.

"It's okay Sakura, I'm reaching your house soon. Come, turn right here." Sakura felt herself follow his instructions. God knows she needs a good sleep.

"Come, sit here for a minute, that's good. Good girl."

Sakura was past caring whatever the voice was saying. She was so sleepy and she was lying on something soft underneath her. She closed her eyes and drifted away to sleep.

* * *

Syaoran almost cried in relief. He had finally found a place to stay. This was the fifth hotel he had approached, and it was the first that did not mind the fact that he did not have his passport at the point of registration. Smoke from the manager's cigarette choked his lungs, but he could only feel gratitude pouring forth from his heart when the manager gruffly dropped him a set of keys. He thanked the manager again and turned to the host who helped him find the place.

"Thank you, Yue." He smiled and said to the white-haired young man next to him. Yue smiled and nodded back. "No problem Li-san. You did pay for the service after all", he replied in smooth English.

Syaoran had approached Yue's colleague earlier, hoping against all odds that he could understand English and point him the way to a hotel. No surprise, the young man did not understand him at all. Syaoran was about to turn away when the young man stopped him and pulled him into the host bar. Syaoran was worried the young man misunderstood him and wanted to wrestle out of his grasp, but the next moment he was introduced to Yue. And he sagged in relief, because the first words that came out of Yue's mouth were, "Hello. How can I help you?" in, thank his lucky stars, English.

Syaoran thanked Yue again as he sent Yue to the lift. "Here, this is my name card. If you still can't find your friend tomorrow just give me a call." Yue said as he passed Syaoran a simple card with "Yue" in bold golden and a long string of numbers below. Syaoran smiled and said, "I'll contact you once I find Eriol. I don't know how to thank you. Let me treat you to lunch. Either within the week in Tokyo or whenever you come to Shanghai just let me know. I'll bring you around."

Yue smiled politely and gave a small nod, before saying goodbye. Just as he entered the lift, a couple exited the lift. The woman was evidently drunk, her long auburn hair covering her face as she leaned against the man holding her. Syaoran scrunched in eyebrows, slightly uncomfortable with the sight for an unknown reason. However, his attention was brought back as Yue waved goodbye. Syaoran waved back, wondering what was with the odd look that Yue gave him before the doors closed.

"One room please." Syaoran managed to catch the young man say as he stepped back into the common space. He did not look more than twenty five, and was dressed casually in jeans and a brown coat. He frowned again as he saw the drunk and unconscious woman on the couch. Her skirt was, objectively speaking, not very short, but with her long slender legs, it looked way too short. Too short for the weather in any case, Syaoran thought. Her head was lying at an awkward angle. Heck, her body was splayed across the couch in an awkward pose. He took a quick look again at the college brat at the counter, who looked like he was desperately holding his breath, as the manager began to brief him on the conditions of stay in a loud voice.

Call it swordsman instinct, but Syaoran just felt something strange with the whole situation. Just then, the manager gave him this _look_ from behind the counter. A chill went up his spine. He stared back in shock at the manager, wondering whether he interpreted things wrong, or… the manager gave him a wink and a lopsided smile. Well, no mistaking then. Syaoran quickly shot a glance at the college brat. This interaction was not caught by him, because he was going through a ridiculous amount of paperwork Syaoran swore he was not subjected to just minutes before. Syaoran sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He did not sign up for this.

* * *

Sakura woke up with a headache.

"Ugh…" she muttered as she held her head in agony. She opened her eyes and saw a room that was not her own. Immediately alert, she looked down at herself and sighed in relief. She was still wearing the clothes from last night. Just then, she heard the click of the door. She sat up on the bed and looked towards the sound. From the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of the creases on the other side of the double bed. A tall figure appeared from behind the bathroom door. He was a half-naked handsome man, with a hand steadying the towel wrapped loosely around his waist and one arm raised in the middle of drying his hair with a towel. He had a tan body, broad shoulders which narrowed towards his waist. He had some water splayed across his chest and abs, which glistened slightly under the light. He stopped drying his hair as he noticed Sakura. He gave a small smile and moved closer to the bed. Sakura looked into his eyes and blushed, wrapping the blanket around her, leaving just her eyes above the blanket. Goodness, she did not mean to stare for so long.

The man, with stunning amber eyes, Sakura noted, quickly swiped up his clothes at a corner on the bed and turned wordlessly back into the bathroom.

"Wait! Who are you? And how did I get here?" Sakura managed to croak out in Japanese and almost wanted to bury her head in the sheets when she heard her embarrassingly cracked morning voice.

Syaoran looked at her, sensing her embarrassment, but not knowing what to say. He raked his mind for the few phrases Yue tried to teach him yesterday.

"Uh... _Anata_?" He frowned, trying to remember whether that was 'hello', but looking at how red the woman's pretty face was becoming, he knew he got it wrong. He sighed to himself and retreated back into the bathroom. He should change into his clothes first.

* * *

Sakura felt her heart-racing and blood pumping into her face. A half-naked, good-looking man just called her darling...what exactly happened last night? She got up and quickly looked for her phone. The screen lit up, showing a list of thirty missed calls from Touya and 20 from Tomoyo. Sakura sighed inwardly as she imagined Touya fuming. She's going to burn from his anger once she reached home. The young man came back then, dressed simply in a black shirt and jeans. He dragged a chair and sat next to the bed, swallowing visibly.

"Uh" He began to say, when just at that moment, two ringtones began to play. Sakura looked at down at her phone and really did not want to pick up the phone. It was Touya.

Syaoran quickly reached for his phone, which thankfully, was fully charged. It was Eriol. Well, finally!

"Syaoran! Where are you now?" Eriol's peaky voice sounded through the phone. Syaoran massaged his temples. Should he beat the guy up later? His fists needed some practice anyway. "I'm somewhere near Shibuya. Where were you?" He began to say, noticing that the woman has also picked up her phone and a loud male voice could be heard over her phone. She was holding the phone slightly away from her ear, eyebrows and eyes scrunched tight as she silently got reprimanded. Well, that was a pity, her brilliant green eyes were really pretty.

"…Syaoran, Syaoran! I'm driving around Shibuya now! Meet me where I left you yesterday!"

Syaoran's attention got pulled back into the conversation. He grunted in response and ended the call. Git, they walked at least two kilometres yesterday from Eriol's mansion to the station because Eriol told him his father didn't allow him to drive the car. A screaming voice could still be heard over the woman's phone, though by now she had dropped the phone on the bed was tying her hair up. Unable to take the terrible noise her phone was making, he swiftly grabbed her phone and ended the call.

Sakura stared at Syaoran in disbelief as he ended Touya's call. She was even more surprised when he extended a hand out. "Hello, my name is Syaoran Li. Nice to meet you." He said in English.

"Sakura Kinomoto" Sakura said as she shook his hand. Thankfully her voice was back to normal. The young man, Syaoran, began speaking faster in English. Sakura wanted to stop him, because she could not catch what he was saying anymore, but eventually did not managed to because her attention was taken away by the freshness of his breath and the soapy scent emanating off his body…

Syaoran explained the events the night before as quickly as he could, worried that she would cry or become agitated. He did not interact with girls much, only with his childhood friend, Mei Ling, but he never really thought Mei Ling to be a typical specimen of the female species. This woman in front of him, Sakura, looked so fragile with her petite frame and big innocent eyes, that he felt he had to be extra careful with his words. This made him nervous and he spoke a little faster, and unconsciously moved a little closer to her while explaining.

Her eyes were downcast when he finished, and he felt a pang of guilt, wondering if she was upset at the incident. He wanted to hug her and comfort her, the thought flashed in his mind and he quickly stopped himself. What was he thinking? What would she think?

Syaoran flushed as his heart started racing. Syaoran did not know what was happening to him, so he did the only thing he could think of: he needed to get out of this situation.

"I, I got to go. I have paid for the room, if there's anything else you want to find out you can ask the manager. He would know." He quickly got out of the bed and walked towards the door. "And…don't be so trusting of other guys anymore." He quickly added, before opening and closing the door behind him.

Sakura could only stare in disbelief at Syaoran as he left the room. What just happened? The sound of the door closing started her, and she quickly scrambled out of the sheets to open the door, wanting to chase after him. By the time she looked down the hallway, however, there was no sign of Syaoran. Sakura returned back to the room and collapsed on the bed.

"We didn't even get to exchange numbers…" Sakura muttered to herself as she rolled over on her back. She felt something coarse scratch her neck and reached out. It was a namecard.

"Yue?" Sakura muttered to herself. Wait…host club?! Syaoran's a host?

Sakura sat up in shock as she held the name card in her hand. She quickly dealt Tomoyo's number.

"Sakura! Where are you now?" Tomoyo's worried voice sounded over the phone.

"Tomoyo I'm alright. I'm at Shibuya now.."

"What? You spent a night out?!"

"No, wait, listen, there's something very important I need to ask you."

"What?"

"Can you accompany me to a host club tonight?"

"EHH?"

* * *

 **A/N: "Anata" is a term of endearment between husband and wife in Japanese which can also mean 'you', just in case you guys were wondering. Always wanted to explore a situation when there's this huge miscomm between SS when they meet. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
